Recipes: Mini burgers and hotdogs

By: David Cowie, Photography by: Sue Stubbs

Date: 03.04.2014

Sliders and rollers are hot at the moment, and you’ll see versions of these tasty treats on the menus of many of our top chefs, but now you can make your own with this excerpt from Sliders & Rollers: Mini burgers and hotdogs, by David Cowie.

Chicken Schnitzel Sliders

Makes 12

Ingredients

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 eggs

500g chicken breast fillets, cut into pieces to fit buns

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup baby spinach

2 tomatoes, sliced

Whole egg mayonnaise or some onion relish

12 slider buns of your choice

Method

In a shallow bowl, combine the panko breadcrumbs and salt and pepper.

In another bowl, beat the two eggs. Dip the chicken pieces in the beaten egg, shake off excess then dip into the panko breadcrumbs.

In a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil on medium-high heat and cook the schnitzels until golden brown for four to five minutes each side. Slice your buns in half lengthwise and toast. To assemble your sliders, spread on the mayonnaise on the bottom half of the buns, add a piece of schnitzel, a slice of tomato and the top of the bun. Hold together with cocktail stick. Add a slice of crispy bacon if you want and serve with a salad.

Spiral-cut rollers with chilli

Makes 12

Ingredients

12 cocktail franks (spiral cut to take more chilli — see below for instructions on how to cut your spiral franks )

Oil for frying

12 roller buns of your choice

400g chilli for rollers (see recipe below)

1 large red/Spanish onion, diced

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (optional)

Method

Cook the franks on a hot barbecue or frying pan in a little oil, until cooked through. Cut the roller buns lengthwise. Add the cooked franks to the roller bun. Top with some warm chilli and onion, then add cheese, if you are using it.

To serve, add mustard or tomato sauce and any of your favourite toppings. These classic hot dogs are great with chips.

How to spiral-cut your cocktail franks

To create a spiral-cut hot dog franks, get a long wooden skewer and thread the sausage onto the skewer.

Next, hold one end of the skewer and with a knife in the other hand start cutting into one end of the sausage at approximately 45 degrees. Cut from one end of the sausage to the other, making sure you don't cut all the way through, as you slowly turn the skewer, rolling the frank as you cut.

Pull out the stick and there you have a spiral frank ready for grilling.

You can then fry the sausages on the grill or in a frying pan, or boil in a pot of water. The spiral cut increases the surface area of the sausage and the grooves in the sausage allow your condiments and sauces to completely cover the sausage.

Chilli for rollers

Makes 12

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 medium white onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic

100 g bacon, diced

1–2 fresh jalapenos, finely diced (optional, for extra heat)

400g minced beef

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

400g can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup beef stock

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, over a medium-high heat. Add the finely diced onion and garlic and cook until golden. Add the diced bacon and cook until crispy. Stir in the jalapenos now if you want an extra kick.

Add the ground beef and all the spices. Stir and break up the beef. Once the beef has browned, add the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and stock, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened to your liking.

This can be prepared the day before; just reheat before serving.

Greek Lamb sliders

Makes 12

Ingredients

500g ground/minced lamb

1 small onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 egg

1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 Lebanese cucumber, finely sliced with vegetable peeler

Tzatziki or garlic mayonnaise

2 Turkish pide loaves, cut into 12 rings

Method

Using a cookie cutter, cut out rounds from the bread to create your slider buns.

Place mince in a large bowl and mix together with the onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, egg, chilli flakes, if using, and season with salt and pepper.

Roll into small balls and flatten the patties to fit your buns. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook for three to four minutes each side, or to your liking.

To assemble your sliders, add some lettuce to the bun, a cooked patty, then a slice or two of tomato and cucumber. Finally, add a dollop of tzatziki. Place the bun on top and hold everything together with a cocktail stick. Serve them while hot.

These sliders are great with a tomato and onion salad or a Greek salad.

Recipes extracted with permission from Sliders & Rollers: Mini burgers and hotdogs by David Cowie, with food photography by Sue Stubbs. Published by New Holland, $45